Friday, February 12, 2016

32 years later, Apple has become Big Brother

In 1984 Apple ran an ad during the Super Bowl that was
stunning in its innovative approach. Directed by Ridley Scott, the ad borrowed
from George Orwell’s novel 1984 with Apple
presenting itself as the champion of the individual battling heroically against
Big Brother. The villain was IBM, the monolithic giant with a stranglehold on
the computer industry.

“It is now 1984. It appears IBM wants it all,” Apple founder
Steve Jobs said in a keynote address. “Will Big Blue dominate the entire
computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about
1984?"

Fast-forward 32 years. Today, the corporate monolith is
Apple. As an author, I can attest to this firsthand.

Despite its setback in court, the market share of the Apple
iBook was growing. So I decided to expand the offering of my third novel, PANCHO LAND,
to the iBook format. That soon introduced me to the hard, cold face of a
corporate monolith.

Before the book could be uploaded, I was forced to complete
a number of financial and tax forms that required sensitive information.
Reluctantly, I continued. After completing the surprisingly byzantine process
(isn’t everything Apple supposed to be clean and simple?), I hit a stone wall.
Turns out, I could not upload the manuscript from my Windows PC.

Frustrated, I decided to cancel the submission and let the
publisher handle the upload through another distribution source. Most
importantly, I was concerned about all the personal information I had provided
and wanted it deleted. That’s when the irony of Apple’s 1984 ad smacked me in
the face.

I received an email from the iTunes Store Legal Team that read:

We are unable to terminate your
eBooks contract at this time. According to the terms and conditions of the
contract, the contract must remain in effect for a full year.

I replied
to the email and asked Apple to reconsider, pointing out that I had no intention
of submitting a book. I got a robot-like
response that seemed the equivalent of a middle-finger salute.

In order to upload books,
providers must agree to the book agreement. As you have agreed to the terms and
conditions of the contract, please contact us within 30 days of [one year after
my submission date] to terminate your contract.

In other words: Sorry about your luck, pal.

If that isn’t the voice of Big Brother, I don’t know what
is. (I should point out here that no other eBook publisher that I’m aware of asks
content creators to provide financial and tax information BEFORE they have
uploaded their content.)

Nonetheless, as Apple’s Super Bowl ad so powerfully conveyed
back in 1984, individuals must fight back against the monolith.

This blog post is my toss of the sledge hammer. I hope others will join me.